Amazon must cement itself in India's growing market, says Bezos

Jeff Bezos' Amazon Indian division has sold products worth more than $1 billion (£615.9m) during its lifetime of just over a year, exceeding Amazon expectations and prompting further investment from the e-commerce-giant-turned-cloud-provider, the International Business Times has reported.

This is according to Bezos himself, who has embarked on his first trip to India since Amazon introduced its retail business there in June 2013. He told local media how the company is to continue investment to strengthen its foothold in India's swelling retail market. Establishing ties with local businesses is part of this process, the aim being to improve the online shopping experience.

"There are unique opportunities in India," Bezos told local business paper The Financial Express in an interview over the weekend. "One of the things that is very unusual about India is the number of small and medium size businesses that you have."

"Super excited" at Amazon's growth in India over the past 12 months, Bezos revealed that the company's India team has developed new tools and concepts that have facilitated the contribution of smaller businesses to the digital economy.

The Amazon founder identified how fast the Indian e-commerce market is growing, compared to other markets, with Amazon getting involved at just the right time, and further areas earmarked for investment.

He told Mint, a local business publication: "There's a lot of opportunity to invest in India such as on the infrastructure side, transportation side, fulfillment centers, mobile, customer acquisition, product categories. This team (Amazon's India arm) has big plans for the fashion category, for instance."